Hydrogenolysis of glycerol over silica-supported copper-nanocatalyst: Effect of precipitating-agent and copper metal-loading

Preparation of various silica-supported copper-nanocatalysts (Cu/SiO2) by deposition precipitation and impregnation methods was demonstrated. These catalysts were prepared using urea and sodium hydroxide as the precipitating-agents. All the catalysts were systematically characterized by various analytical, spectroscopic and imaging techniques including XRD, N-2 sorption analysis, N2O chemisorption, TPD, TPR, DRUV-VIS XPS and TEM. The Cu/SiO2 catalyst prepared using urea as the precipitating-agent exhibited uniform and narrow size distribution copper-nanoparticles to that prepared using sodium hydroxide as well as impregnation method. The performance of the catalyst with different metal loading is analyzed and a Cu-loading of 15 wt% was found to be optimum for the maximum yield. Thus, the catalytic activity of 15 wt% Cu/SiO2 was systematically examined for the hydrogenolysis of glycerol reaction. The influence of reaction conditions and structure activity correlation were also elucidated in this work. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.